Romancers of Re-arranged Spaces,

Like a musical study of existentialism, Prevention by De Rosa points in metaphors at the angst of re-assessment.

For their second album on the Chemikal Underground, De Rosa have expanded from three to five members with splendid results. As Scottish rock is tempered with folk and electronica, themes of acting against one’s better judgment are conveyed in poetic lyrics. Martin John Henry’s voice can carry a wonderful range of emotions and supports a range of musical moods; mostly, wistfulness, regret, anger on Prevention.

Nocturne for an Absentee is the song that seems to receive the radio play, a depiction of the difference between day and night for our protagonist, ‘daylight saving me from myself’ suggests a grim life away from the working existence, and sets the mind to ponder the use of time, what fills it and how others may misuse it or struggle to survive it.

In Stillness, a reminder that time is the shadow of our existence, any wise man knows to keep his distance is always timely. The opening verse starts:

I compose
Every centre, every perspective
Any partisan knows
I propose a way of looking
Or a way of looking past this

Thoughtlessness plagues our society and those who can do something, those able-bodied, those healthy enough, focus upon small potatoes with detail that defies sense.

Comparisons with that cheeky scampateer, Malcolm Middleton might be made here and there, particularly on Under the Stairs, an uplifting song that mentions winter and graves, but the subtleties of the percussion and keys plus the quivering vocals set De Rosa apart upon a niche that should be wallowed in by those fed up of small potatoes.